


They Say

by Evil_Little_Dog



Category: Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Gen, Inspired by...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 05:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4379810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: They say she tamed the wolf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Say

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HalfshellVenus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfshellVenus/gifts).



They say she has tamed the wolf when she comes back from the forest alive, the huntsman following at her heels. 

She says, _No_ , because the wolf isn't tamed, nor reformed, but her voice is swallowed up in the cheering of the townspeople. 

She's proven right when the next person goes into the woods, a shepherd moving his flocks. Three lambs are stolen and he is savaged and, when he's healed enough, he comes to her and screams that she's a fool for ever trusting a wolf, and he's a fool for putting his trust in a girl. 

She says, _No_ , and the shepherd thinks it means she agrees and goes to tell all who'll listen, but what she really meant was, trust had to be earned and how had the shepherd earned the trust of the forest folk? 

The townsfolk attempt again and again to enter the forest, and each is sent back with some mishap or another - horses chased, flock stolen, dogs savaged. Each piles blame up at her feet. Each time she says, _No_ , but they never understand her meanings, and with each attack, the townspeople grow darker and uglier toward her. 

Until they decide she's a witch, in league with the wolf, and the best way to deal with both is to burn down the forest with her in it. 

_No_ , she says, but her voice is swallowed up in the crackling of flames and the cackling of laughter and cheers of delight at the smoke rising in the air. 

But the wolf comes, a great, ravening beast with a maw redder than the fire's tongue. It rips through the bindings put on the girl and carries her in its mouth like she's its pup. And the wolf stops at the foot of the village to lay the girl down and it shouts a curse on them all for burning a forest of a god and the god's chosen.

And then both girl and wolf vanish in a flash of light, far more brilliant than the fire. 

Once upon a time, they say there was a village with the belief that girls who ventured into the woods were sacrifices for the rest of the village's safe passage. 

The townsfolk were wrong.


End file.
